Ram Dass Here And Now

The quality of a really good teacher is rascalism. All you need to know is this: If you want to be free, use the teacher to the fullest extent. Their karmic problems are their karmic problems. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ram Dass talks about the promises and the pitfalls of the spiritual path, and the shift of reality that happened in the sixties that was predicated by psychedelics. This shift blew apart the traditional religious systems that were in place at the time, and the psychedelics gave people a connection that they had never experienced before: a feeling that they were interconnected with the universe. When we see how much of our behavior is a defense mechanism to alleviate the pain of separateness, we begin to realize the importance of healthy intuitive and compassionate hearts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Being in the presence of dying people keeps me close to the edge of my own awakening. Love touches time and turns it to dust. Love is beyond the reach of time. -Ram Dass See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There's another way of being in the universe. The Chinese call it "the heart mind" or as we may call it "the intuitive mind." Rather than knowing through dualistic means or thinking about it, one subjectively merges with it, becomes one with it. It's like the difference between wisdom and knowledge.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The nature of aging is change. We are fascinated by watching that which changes. When change starts to happen to who we think we are, the fascination turns into fear. We are living in a system that is out of balance; the zeal for independence and individuality has left us alienated from the structures of family, community and nature.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What we offer each other is our truth, which includes all of our "stuff." We have to allow ourselves to be human. The way to the truth is through acknowledging the fullness of where we find ourselves to be, which is through our humanity and our divinity.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One cultivates spaciousness or awareness which allows you to acknowledge the emotions and see them as part of the human condition. Emotions are like subtle thought forms and they all arise in response to something outside yourself. They are all reactions. You cultivate a quietness in yourself that watches these emotions rising and falling and passing away.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Media can destroy the message in the way it delivers it, similarly, as long as I have a price I am transmitting fear, because I have something to lose. The minute I have no price, I can transmit perfect joy of presence and freedom.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The world is a reflection of our internal state; if we dwell on turmoil, anger and confusion then that's how the world will be perceived to the individual. You have to work on yourself first before you can effectively take any social or political action. A quiet mind and and an open heart are important attributes to project into the world.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Raghu reveals an interesting confession about an LSD experience he had involving the death of his ego and the birth of a very specific concern. Ram Dass discusses the art of dying and suffering. Suffering only happens to a "somebody" - if you are not attached to your "somebodyness" you don't suffer because there's nothing for that suffering to cling to and manifest within you. The suffering that has occured in your life is part of what allows you to be here today - the way that suffering burns into you and deepens you makes you less superficial.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.